http://rusty-halo.com/wordpress/?p=2244

My LiveJournal account expires in about a week, at which point I’ll switch to a basic account. I:

* Moved all my memories to del.icio.us.

* Am moving all my scrapbook photos to my own site as we speak (using the NextGen Gallery Plug-In; it’s lovely).

* Have tagged all my entries, and plan to copy my archives to InsaneJournal asap.

* Am satisfied with the state of my layout (since I won’t be able to edit it again).

* Am emotionally preparing myself to cope with only six icons (yet another reason to read me on my own blog or InsaneJournal where I have–at last count–149 icons).

* Am only cross-posting about a third of my entries to LJ anyway.

* Moved all my RSS feeds to Google Reader, so I won’t need to worry about adding new feeds to LJ.

* What happens to my custom friends groups? I only use them for posting; do those posts revert to general friends-only or to private?

Is there anything I’m forgetting?

Originally published at rusty-halo.com. Please click here to comment.

http://rusty-halo.com/wordpress/?p=2233

I took the LJ strike as an opportunity to set up my own blog on my own server. Now I am officially no longer subject to the whim of any journaling service!

You can view my new journal at rusty-halo.com.

I’m going to be cross-posting everything to InsaneJournal, because I think they’re more fandom-friendly than LiveJournal. I’m going to cross-post some (but not all) posts to LiveJournal, in order to keep up with friends and fandoms that aren’t leaving LJ any time soon.

I would prefer comments on my own blog, but for now you can still comment at LJ/IJ too. If you want to read/comment on friendslocked entries at my blog, please register and I’ll add you to my “friends” group which can view private entries. (Registering also means you won’t have to re-enter your name every time you comment.)

Please feel free to test it out, and do let me know if anything weird happens. This is brand new and sure to have bugs, but I’m really excited about it.

( More details, for those who are curious )

Originally published at rusty-halo.com. Please click here to comment.

I haven't been on LJ today, since I'm boycotting it. But I understand that a lot of people are spamming just to counter the boycotters. And I saw plenty of people yesterday promising to post, or announcing that if they didn't post, it's just because they're busy, and heaven forbid anyone think they actually support the boycott.

So I have a question for them (which I'm sure they won't see anyway because they're too good to dirty their eyes with a non-LJ journaling site): Do you really think it makes you cool to support a site that thinks breastfeeding, fanfiction, bisexuality, and depression deserve to be censored? Because frankly, from over here, you look like selfish idiots. You'll let the site owners treat you with contempt, and you're happy to let your fellow members of fandom get kicked out of the party as long as you're allowed to stay.

I mean, I can kind of understand not really giving a fuck, because keeping your head in the sand is a pervasive human trait. But actively countering the strike? What the fuck is wrong with you?

Did you even read this? Suspending paid journals for breastfeeding icons and adult art then retroactively and ambiguously changing the rules to forbid those things? Go read that and if you're okay with everything LJ did, tell me so I can take you off my FL, because I don't think you're someone I want to know.


(Yeah, this is meaner than something I'd usually post. But I see people that I've known for five years, that I've met in person, that I care about, over on LJ bitching that they wish those damn complainers would just shut the fuck up and get off their journaling site. So, y'know, if you really want me to just shut up and be gone, TAKE ME OFF YOUR DAMN FRIENDSLIST. Yeah, it'll hurt my feelings for a moment, but it'll be better than seeing someone I THOUGHT was my friend hating me behind my back.)

An interview in which the CEO of SUP (which owns LiveJournal) shows massive contempt for the users of LiveJournal. (There's also an alternate translation in which he says the same offensive things in a slightly nicer way.)

LiveJournal is a company that profits from 1) selling ad spaces on the content we create and 2) taking our money directly. Their business model relies on us. Yet it never seems to sink in that maybe they should care about what we think, discuss changes in advance, or pay attention to our opinions, because we actually know the community and the experience of LJ far better than some corporate guy who's barely used it. (And some acknowledgment that they wouldn't have any ad spaces to sell if we weren't creating the content would be nice too. And that maybe it's not the best idea to insult us by implying that we're all a bunch of depressed bisexual pornwriting sickos who deserve to be hidden. [Yes, I realize that the top interests have been restored, but those censored words didn't choose themselves, and they reveal a lot about LJ's attitude towards its users.])

I don't think that the strike will cause LJ to change. I do hope it will raise awareness among LiveJournal users that LiveJournal does not want people like us using their site. (They've got some deluded obsession with becoming the new Facebook or MySpace, despite the fact that there's already a Facebook and a MySpace, and the actual users of LJ are there because they don't want to be on Facebook or MySpace). Personally, I think LJ is slowly dying and that fandom will have migrated to somewhere else in five years.

I'm taking spikewriter's advice and just using this strike as another step in my process of moving to InsaneJournal. I will no longer be cross-posting all of my entries to LJ, so if you want the full rusty_halo experience (*g*), please friend me on InsaneJournal. If you don't want to sign up for an account there, you can still comment via OpenID, although you won't be able to read my friendslocked posts (unless you comment with your OpenID username and ask me to friend you). I'm still going to post some entries on LiveJournal because I want to keep up with friends here and I want to participate in certain fandoms, but a lot of my more personal or off-the-cuff entries will be InsaneJournal only. (I know, I'm terribly arrogant, no one's going to switch journals just for me, etc, etc. I still have to do what is best for me.)

(Another reason you should read me on InsaneJournal? I'm really enjoying the 300 icon spaces I got with my permanent account over there. If you sign up for a free account, you'll get 100, btw.)

Some resources for moving to InsaneJournal:

* A Beginner's Guide to InsaneJournal.

* An excellent resource post which includes how to copy over your old entries, how to copy over all your icons, how to install a thread-unfolder, and how to block ads.

* Useful tools for backing up your LJ, copying your LJ and communities to IJ, and cross-posting.

* How to use OpenID for commenting on IJ or LJ.

* If you don't like the look of InsaneJournal, go here to choose a different site scheme. I like Dramatic (Sidebar) and Worksafe (Sidebar). I understand that they are working on more.

* The InsaneJournal announcements community keeps users informed about what's happening on the site (without LJ's bullshit marketing speech). Downtime is fixed quickly and code is updated frequently (they've got notifications now, btw). If you have a concern about the site, you can comment there and the guy who runs it, squeaky, often responds directly. IJ is fandom friendly and squeaky has promised not to go after fannish content (see the intro text on IJ's home page).

* A list of LJ's greatest fuckups, in case you need more inspiration to go. Just a glance at that list shows a consistent history of making rash and offensive decisions, then back-pedaling, tossing out a half-assed apology, and repeating the exact same pattern again the next time. Frankly, I'm still offended that they think breastfeeding is obscene. :( They also have some creepy tracking issues with their advertising in addition to everything else.

I'm not trying to start arguments or tell other people what to do. I'm just explaining how I feel and linking to information that I've found useful, for the benefit of others who may feel the same as I do.

I won't be visiting LiveJournal.com at all on Friday March 21, and I expect to scale back my useage of the site in the future. I will be posting and commenting more on InsaneJournal; I'd love to see you there.

[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]

Just added "uncensored interests lists" to my LJ interests list. Heh.

Friday March 21st is LJ blackout day. I won't be posting or commenting on LJ on that day from midnight GMT to midnight GMT.

Lots of people have been pointing out that LiveJournal is a business, as if that excuses every offensive thing that they do. I believe that businesses should balance profit with ethics. That's why I'm vegan, and why I try to avoid buying from companies that profit by hurting animals or abusing the environment. I wouldn't want to support a company that caves to homophobia, either, which is what LJ is doing when they try to hide that their users are interested in bisexuality. Or one that regards "fandom" and "depression" as worthy of censorship. Or one that breaks its promises and treats its users like idiots.

My paid account expires next month and obviously I won't be renewing.

Yeah, the actions of one person don't make much of an impact. But that's the same silly argument people use against voting, and it's easily refuted by the fact that 1) groups are made of individuals, and group actions do have impact, and 2) no matter what anyone else does, I'm doing what I think is right.

Of course there are more important causes in which to participate (and I do), but I've spent five years of my life contributing content and paying for services on LiveJournal. I have every right to care about this too.

I wasn't going to do this meme, but I've been reading psubrat's responses and they are really interesting. So, why not?

Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it. Repost in your own journal so that we can all learn more about each other.

***

I'm trying out cross-posting to LJ and IJ simultaneously using Semagic. Thank you to versaphile for posting instructions here.

I'm so amused that this thing can automatically detect what song I happen to be listening to on Winamp as I write a post.

[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]

LiveJournal wants to hide that its users are interested in fanfiction and bisexuality. The latest in a very long list of stupid and offensive behavior.

InsaneJournal just did a code update. Their default site scheme is still ugly, but you can change it easily once you have an account. Their paid accounts are cheaper and offer more icon space than LiveJournal's. They let you customize your journal layout just as LJ does. The guy who runs it is responsive to concerns and answers questions honestly instead of spewing corporate double-talk and treating us like children.

I'm getting closer and closer to moving here completely.

LJ abolishes free accounts.

*hugs InsaneJournal*

In the midst of my John Simm fest, I managed to watch the first four episodes of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I like it, with reservations.

( The Sarah Connor Chronicles 1x01 - 1x04 )

In other news, my extra icon space on LiveJournal expired. And since I don't want to give LJ another cent, I didn't renew it. Trimming icons is hard. :( Maybe I'll figure out a way to fake-embed them in my LiveJournal posts and comments via InsaneJournal, where I have a permanent account with 300 icon spaces. Hmm...

[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]

(writing this mostly because writing it down makes me more likely to follow through)

Part of the reason it's been so difficult to leave LiveJournal is that I've been treating LiveJournal as my portal to the web. My tech saavy friends have laughed at me for this, because there are many better things out there than LJ, but I loved my little LJ community and spent so much time there that it made sense for me to have everything in one place.

But. It's really past time that I move beyond this. So here's what I'm doing:

* I've been using LJ as a feed reader (watching henryjenkins, janeespenson, theonionfeed, cuteoverload, wilwheaton, etc). I've switched to Google Reader, which is far superior--you can sort everything into categories, mark stuff as read, and because it's so much more organized and efficient, I can actually watch far more feeds this way. (I've got a whole Doctor Who category now! Yay!) There are plenty of other feed readers out there, but I went with Google for simplicity.

* I've been using LJ's memories function to store bookmarks. This has the obvious flaw that it limits my bookmarks to LJ-only links. Now I've got a del.icio.us account and dammit, I'm going to make myself use it.

* Calendar. I've been using LJ as a calendar in the completely inane sense of having a locked entry that I update with stuff I need to remember to do. So uh, Google Calendar looks nice.

* I've been using LJ's scrapbook to store photos. In the future I will use Flickr.

Thus LJ (and now IJ) becomes a site I check only for the stuff it's good at, namely that my friends and fannish communities are there. But this way it's less important to my overall experience of the web, and this makes it less stressful/easier for me to move when/if LJ/IJ fucks up (again).

Okay. I moved journals.

I've got all of my icons copied over to InsaneJournal.

I've friended every LJ person I know who is also on InsaneJournal. (Did I miss you? Let me know!)

I've updated my LiveJournal profile and layout with links to my InsaneJournal.

I'm not copying over my LJ archives to InsaneJournal because I'm too lazy, but I'm saving backups for myself, and everything going forward will be in IJ.

I've fixed up my InsaneJournal's style so it looks more or less like my LJ one.

I've got a permanent IJ account which includes 300 icons. (BTW, they're on sale this week.)

So. I've officially moved to InsaneJournal.

Therefore:

My entries will be posted to InsaneJournal first.

I'll read my friends' list on InsaneJournal first and comment there first.

But. Since I don't want to lose touch with my LJ friends:

I'll still be cross-posting to LJ, although I'd really encourage people to comment on IJ instead of LJ. That's why each entry includes a link at the bottom to the InsaneJournal version. (I won't hate you if you don't. Just, y'know, I'd appreciate it, if you have an IJ account, if you'd comment there.)

Eventually (probably when my paid time runs out this spring), I'll just post links to my InsaneJournal posts, instead of cross-posting.

In terms of LJ friends:

I'll still read and comment on my LJ friends list, at least until more people move to InsaneJournal. There are just too many people on LJ that I don't want to lose touch with. But I'm going to be spending a lot more time on InsaneJournal. (Look, there's even a community for the Master over there!)


[The reason for all this has been brewing for a long time, but the utterly inane new "flagging" system was the last straw for me.]

( just ranting )

InsaneJournal is currently having a sale. Permanent accounts, with 300 icons, for $35.

C'mon, people. The more of us who move, the less we'll have to deal with LJ's crap.

http://community.livejournal.com/lj_biz/243697.html

Oh my god I hate SixApart so much.

I know, I've been off LJ for a while... I'll catch up eventually....

Meanwhile, what the hell are these stupid little pop-up boxes attached to links, and how do I get rid of them?

*reminding everyone that InsaneJournal is awesome*

I'm rusty_halo at InsaneJournal, JournalFen, and GreatestJournal.

I'm going to begin posting my entries here at LJ and also at InsaneJournal. I'll eventually switch to either InsaneJournal or (hopefully) a new non-profit, fan-oriented journaling service.

InsaneJournal looks the best for now because they seem less likely to censor than GreatestJournal, and because it's so difficult for new people to set up accounts at JournalFen.

If you missed it: people are again getting deleted without warning for fannish activities relating to fiction and art. (More info here). I don't feel comfortable staying on LJ knowing that my presence lends tacit support to a company that is mistreating fans--not to mention that it could be me or any of my friends next.

This happened before and was called Strikethrough '07. Apparently LiveJournal decided that instead of clarifying their policies or warning their users before deletion, the answer was to remove the strikethroughs from the names of the suspended users. Because apparently fans are so dumb that we wouldn't realize it was happening again without the strikethrough?? *headdesk*

Honestly, what is so hard about asking people to remove objectionable content, and setting up a review process? How is okay for Six Apart to randomly delete a paying customer's journal (and multiple journals, most of which had nothing objectionable)? A company that thinks it's better to delete first (and ignore questions later) is not one I want to be associated with. And a community cannot thrive when its members are at constant risk of arbitrary deletion.

And the latest thing they're spending our account fees on is this. Which, y'know, couldn't possibly be abused. Given Six Apart's track record, it's safe to say that this is just the beginning of fannish deletions.

Anyway. Go to fandom_flies for more discussion about moving.

What a ridiculous kerfuffle.

*shakes head at LiveJournal*

I'm rusty_halo over at GreatestJournal. If you have an account there and still want to be friends, please friend me. (I'll try to do the same with everyone on my FL that I can find.)

I don't really expect fandom will end up migrating over there, but it's nice to have as a backup. I do think an exodus from LiveJournal is inevitable, but a better alternative will have to come along and establish itself first.

Hopefully it'll be something fan-created, non-profit, and free of censorship. People are working on this, right? I vaguely recall seeing something on metafandom. *sigh* I'm so out of the fandom loop.

If you haven't already, join fandom_counts and fill out the poll at fandompays.

(If you've been living under a rock, you can catch up at metafandom. It's also making mainstream news.)

Oh, and back up your journal: PC / PC and Mac.

This leaves me feeling so disgusted and angry. LJ is so *personal*--many of my most heartfelt thoughts and writings are here, and many of my most important social relationships are based here. It feels deeply disturbing to know that my journal or that of someone I care about could be arbitrarily deleted by the Thought Police.

I realize that SixApart has the *legal* right to do what it wants--it's dangerous that we've allowed something we care about so deeply to be under control of a commercial interest that doesn't care about us at all. (For all the crap FanLib spewed, the one argument that I sympathized with was that we're *already* entrusting our community to a commercial venture). Hopefully this will be a lesson that fandom learns and takes to heart in its migration away from LiveJournal and to whatever hopefully-improved place the future brings....

I mean, when I got into fandom, I met everyone on YahooGroups, and LJ was this crazy newfangled thing that I didn't want to have to deal with. And it really wan't that long ago. LJ seems so established now, but in a few years we could be totally happy somewhere else.


Anyway, in better news. What I was actually coming here to post about (before getting distracted by all this crappy stuff) is the new Velvet Revolver video, in which Scott Weiland pulls off an absolutely *stunning* Clint Eastwood impression. I can't stop drooling. My god, the hotness. *drifts off to happy place*


ETA: Oh yeah, and if you're on MySpace (I know, it sucks), you can friend me there.

Today is my four-year LiveJournal anniversary.

I originally thought I'd keep this thing for maybe a week and then delete it. I can't believe I've been posting here regularly for four years!

The first person to comment on my journal was the lovely harmonyfb. We hadn't even met in person at the time--this was before Vulkon Tampa or DragonCon '03 or the two WriterCons. How awesome is it that we're still in touch four years later? :)

My early posts are kind of lame and annoying. I guess I was trying to seem all cool and impartial as "the archivist of All About Spike." That sure didn't last long! Wank and emotional rants are more fun anyway, right? ;) Although I definitely put a lot more effort into my posts back then, before this journal just turned into "Laura rambling about whatever's on her mind today."

My writing was probably more honest and less self-conscious back when I kept a personal diary for my eyes only, but I think the trade-off (making good friends and having people to talk with about my interests) is more than worth it.


Couple of good links today; Kathy Freston on the Huffington Post:

Vegetarian is the New Prius
A Few More 'Inconvenient Truths'

Not that there's anything new here; vegans have been shouting this stuff from the rooftops for years. What's interesting is the mainstream left-leaning environmentally concerned demographic among whom this discourse is (finally!) starting to take place.

Dear whoever just gave me an extra year of paid service (plus more userpics!) -- thank you! You are awesome! (I wish I knew who you were!)

:)

I'm bored. A meme.

This thing says you're supposed to post a picture, but if it's too much effort, don't bother.

Casting Call

I think it's inevitable that as we read each other's journals we create mental pictures of each other. Post this on your own journal to find out who your friends see when they read about your life.

Two Rules:

1. The person must be in the movies or on TV (but doesn't have to be an actor/actress). The person can be specific to a role (e.g. Jennifer Elhe's Elizabeth Bennet) or just the person herself. (note added--actors can totally be dead.)

2. You have to post a link to a picture of said person in the comments.